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Nintendo would largely follow suit with the stock controller for its GameCube console, but swapped the positions of the analog stick and D-pad. Several third-party manufacturers would produce aftermarket N64 controllers with similar layouts to the Dual Analog/DualShock, such as the MakoPad and Hori Mini. When Sony released its Dual Analog and DualShock controllers for the competing PlayStation, it retained the original controllers' two-handled ergonomics, placing the analog sticks below and inside the primary D-pad and face buttons, allowing the player to quickly switch from the D-pad and face buttons to the analog sticks without letting go of the controller. Some, though, realized they can hold the controller with the outer grips and use their index fingers for the R and L triggers, middle fingers for the Z-trigger, right thumb for the right-hand buttons, and left thumb for the D-pad and (stretching) analog stick, without changing hand positions. This design is controversial, as by its nature it generally prevents the use of all of its features with the player's hands in any one position the D-pad, L-shoulder, analog stick and Z-trigger cannot, generally, all be used at the same time as it typically requires the player to switch hand positions, taking the hands off of the key directional controls. Very few games use the directional pad exclusively two examples are the 3D puzzle game Tetrisphere and the side-scrolling platformer Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. In some games such as Mortal Kombat Trilogy, the control stick and directional pad are interchangeable. This setup allows dual-analog control on some first-person shooters such as Perfect Dark. Additionally, though the controller was not designed with this setup in mind, one controller can be held in each hand with a thumb on each analog stick and index fingers on the Z trigger.
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Finally, the controller can be held by the center and left-hand grip, allowing for a combination of the D-pad, L shoulder, analog stick, and Z trigger, as was implemented in GoldenEye 007. It can be also held by the center and right-hand grip, allowing the use of the single control stick, the right hand-buttons, the "R" shoulder button, and the Z trigger on the rear (but not the "L" shoulder button or D-pad). This style was intended to optimize play in 2D games by emulating the setup on the Super NES controller.
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First, it can be held by the two outer grips, allowing use of the D-pad, right-hand face buttons and the "L" and "R" shoulder buttons (but not the Z trigger or analog stick). The controller was designed to be held in three different positions. They're the buttons that get high traffic." : 12 That's why the A and B Buttons are placed for easiest access on the new controller and why they are larger than the other buttons. Nintendo of America's head designer, Lance Barr, said that the design studies revealed that "most games use a few buttons for most of the main controls, such as jumping and shooting, or accelerating and braking. During development, the first mock-up was created out of clay. The sculpted shape of the radical new Batarang-like controller was so complex that it couldn't even be modeled on a computer. Lance Barr, the head designer at NOA, worked with the NU64 design team in Japan on the controller.